


Popularity & Jealousy

by DistantSenpai



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Post-Canon, Yuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26875000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DistantSenpai/pseuds/DistantSenpai
Summary: Due to the success of µ's, Otonokizaka has tons of new students during Honoka & Umi's third year, and many of them are attached to Honoka!  How will Umi react now that Honoka is surrounded by fans?
Relationships: Kousaka Honoka/Sonoda Umi
Comments: 7
Kudos: 49





	Popularity & Jealousy

The new school year should’ve been refreshing and joyful. They had saved their school, won Love Live, became famous, and had disbanded after everyone was satisfied. Now, they were supposed to focus on studying for their college entrance exams. It was less fun without Eli, Nozomi and Nico, but it still should’ve been a peaceful and enjoyable year. That’s how it should’ve been. However…

“Honoka-sama!!!”

“S-Sama?!” Umi stammered in surprise as she watched a first-year jog toward Honoka. Not long after, a few other first-years joined them, and Honoka was surrounded by excitable faces.

This was why the new school year wasn’t relaxing.

Umi sighed quietly, an uneasy feeling rising in her chest as she gazed at the group.

After µ's had won Love Live and performed in New York, their popularity had skyrocketed, and their final performance with hundreds of school idols earned them even more fans. Naturally, as µ's gained notoriety, so did Otonokizaka.

Which in turn led to a massive influx of applicants for this year, with most of the students having the same ulterior motive for applying.

Umi was about to look away from the group when Honoka suddenly laid a hand on the head of one of the girls. Before Umi could think, her feet carried her to the group as she moved between the girls, coming face to face with Honoka.

“Oh, Umi-chan!” Honoka greeted Umi with a smile but tilted her head in curiosity shortly after. “…what’s wrong?”

Umi was brought back to reality, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks as her gaze darted around the concerned faces of the group before landing back on Honoka’s.

“I-I…” Umi trailed off as her mind went blank. She wasn’t even sure what brought her there, so coming up with a reason on the spot was impossible.

As the underclassmen began to whisper, Umi averted her gaze and took a step away. “Never mind.”

Umi only had enough time to take one more step before her wrist was grabbed.

“Umi-chan?” Honoka whispered worriedly.

Umi turned her head toward Honoka and was greeted with wide eyes. She wasn’t sure what kind of face she was making, but she knew her face felt incredibly hot.

After Honoka didn’t say anything, Umi gently shook off Honoka’s hand on her wrist and walked away.

“What’s wrong with Umi-senpai?” One of the underclassmen asked, and they all began guessing.

Honoka wore a downcast expression as she watched Umi’s back slowly shrink in the distance. However, she quickly formed a small smile as she turned back toward the group. “Have you girls found a club you’d like to join yet?” she changed the subject from Umi as the underclassmen became energetic again.

* * *

“What am I doing…”

Umi was curled up in a corner as she mumbled to herself. Not only was what she did in the morning extremely embarrassing, but she couldn’t even concentrate on class, so she’d asked to be excused to the nurse’s office. However, she’d retreated to the student council room instead.

The scene from earlier replayed in her head, a frown forming on her face as she slumped further down.

“…I don’t like it.”

“Don’t like what?” Honoka asked casually as Umi yelled in surprise.

“H-Honoka?! Wha-?! When did you-“

“I called out to you three times, you know…” Honoka said bashfully with a laugh.

“O-Oh…I never heard you.”

As Umi stared wide-eyed with a blush, Honoka walked over and sat next to her. The room was silent for a long minute, Honoka awkwardly glancing around as Umi kept stealing nervous peeks at her. Umi had always found it easy to talk with Honoka, but now it seemed impossible.

A few more minutes passed before Umi finally spoke.

“…aren’t you going to ask anything?” she asked as Honoka jumped a bit, startled.

“U-Umi-chan! You have to warn people before you start speaking!” Honoka reprimanded as Umi gave her a curious look.

“How am I supposed to do that without talking…” Umi pointed out with a small smirk as Honoka laughed.

“True…” she whispered before bringing her hands together in her lap and moving her gaze to Umi’s eyes. “This is the first time you’ve ever skipped class, Umi-chan.”

“I-I am not skipping!” Umi quickly complained, flustered. She had always been a model student and took pride in that.

However, her burst of energy quickly disappeared as her eyes met the ground. There was no reasonable explanation for why she wasn’t in class, so she unfortunately had to admit it.

“Okay…maybe I am…” she mumbled as Honoka giggled.

“Right? So…” Honoka smiled a bit, bringing her gaze to the ground as well. “…whatever it is, you don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to, Umi-chan.”

Umi smiled a bit. She had felt uneasy earlier, but now it was as if she was surrounded by warmth.

“Hono-“

“Oh, but that’s only on one condition! I get to stay here with you, okay?!” Honoka declared energetically, and Umi giggled.

“What’s with that…?” she asked between laughs.

“I’m serious! It’s okay, right? Tell me it’s okay, Umi-chan!” Honoka was insistent as Umi sighed quietly.

“Yes, it’s okay.”

“Yay!” Honoka cheered as she hugged Umi, who quickly blushed.

“H-Huh?! Honoka?”

“I’m just happy! I, uh…” Honoka trailed off as she moved away from Umi and scratched her cheek. “I thought you maybe hated me or something…”

“Hate you?!” Umi repeated in shock. “Why would I hate you?”

Honoka nervously looked away. “Well…this morning…you looked mad, Umi-chan. I thought I did something,” she explained softly.

“Ah…” Umi murmured as the scene replayed in her head, and her expression darkened.

Honoka quickly waved her hands in front of herself. “Oh, Umi-chan, I didn’t mean to make you sad! Sorry! Forget it!” she tried to change the topic.

Umi breathed a deep sigh as she collected herself.

“I’m not sad, it’s just…” Umi trailed off as she searched for the right words. After a moment, an idea came to her, and she moved toward Honoka. “Honoka.”

“Y-Yes?” Honoka unconsciously straightened her posture as she nervously watched Umi’s face.

Umi pouted a bit. She was aware she was acting uncharacteristically. Tricks like these were better suited for Kotori, or Rin. But she still wanted to see.

“You seem pretty close with the new students,” she remarked as Honoka enthusiastically nodded.

“Mhm! I was a little worried, but they seem to like me!”

“I’m glad. But…do you pet the head of everyone you’re close to?” Umi asked quietly.

Honoka was taken aback. “W-Well…they asked me to, and…” she nervously stammered, feeling guilty for some reason.

Umi stared silently at Honoka for a few moments, as if expecting something. Honoka met her gaze, a mixture of panic and confusion on her face.

“U-Umi-chan…?” Honoka asked, confused.

“Never mind,” Umi turned away from Honoka with a faint blush.

_‘I’m acting like a child…’_ Umi thought to herself with a frown.

The room was silent for a short while until Umi suddenly felt a hand on her head.

“Hehe…this feels nice…” Honoka murmured blissfully as she pet Umi’s head.

Umi smiled gently.

* * *

After that, they talked about various things for the rest of the class’ length. When Umi asked how Honoka had gotten permission to follow her, Honoka smugly answered “when you’re the student council president, you can do whatever you want!”

Umi began lecturing her about abuse of power and how she has responsibilities as the student council president, and Honoka felt embarrassed about the joke. Afterwards, they returned to their classroom together, and lunch break came quickly.

As Umi finished collecting her things, she stood up, only to be confused when someone was missing. 

“Excuse me,” she said as she approached a group of classmates. “Do you know where Honoka went?”

“Ah, she had to help the teacher with something involving the first-years,” a girl answered, and Umi nodded before leaving the classroom and heading toward the first-years floor.

Umi had been eating lunch with Honoka and Kotori every day for a while now, and she hoped today wouldn’t be any different. Especially with that issue still on her mind.

After arriving on the first-years floor, she approached another group of students.

“Excuse me, have you seen Honoka?”

“Eh? Honoka-sama? No, I haven’t,” a girl answered casually, earning a frown from Umi.

There it was. The ‘Honoka-sama’ title she didn’t want to hear. She was glad the underclassmen liked Honoka, but…she didn’t enjoy how friendly they seemed to act with Honoka, and it was as if they were putting her on a pedestal. She didn’t know the reason for it, and she felt a bit childish for acting that way, but…it made her upset.

“…I see. Well, I-“ Umi tried to leave, but the same girl softly grabbed her hand.

“U-Um-!” the girl started nervously as Umi stared at her, confused.

“Yes…?” Umi prompted but started to get a bad feeling.

The girl’s eyes darted around before reaching the ground below them.

“I-Is Honoka-sama dating anybody?!” she stammered out with a blush as Umi’s eyes widened.

The other girls in the group made sounds of surprise, teasing grins on their faces as they watched their classmate.

But Umi was frozen for a long moment.

…

“…she is,” Umi stated clearly.

“Ah, really…? Well, I guess that was obvious…” the girl looked dejected as her friends patted her on the back, as if they had all already expected that answer.

Umi left them without another word as her face started heating up.

_‘Why did I lie?!?!’_ she thought to herself as she raised her hands to her face, trying to hide her embarrassment.

* * *

“Ugh…” Honoka groaned after she was finally released from the teachers.

Apparently, there had been some problem that they couldn’t tell her the full details about, but she was still asked to help them. Though Otonokizaka had a large influx of students, the teaching staff was only a bit larger than last year’s, so they needed as much help as they could get. It was chaotic having to run all over the school, and she had even accidentally bumped into an underclassman at one point.

It was nice that she was able to miss classes, but she was still upset about not being able to eat with Umi and Kotori. But…

Honoka smiled happily.

At least she could still go home with them.

She made her way to the student lockers, her eyes lighting up as she spotted Umi standing in front of her own open one. “Umi-ch-!”

Honoka cut herself off as she noticed something in Umi’s hands. It looked like an envelope. She wasn’t sure why, but it made her uncomfortable.

Honoka hid for reasons she couldn’t explain, swallowing nervously as she watched Umi open the letter and read it.

…

Umi’s face turned red and her eyes darted around the area for any prying gazes. Honoka was able to hide behind a corner in time, and after a few moments, peeked out again.

Umi was frozen in place for a while, but eventually started walking as Honoka felt her chest tighten.

Umi wasn’t headed toward the school’s entrance or the student council room.

…

…

Honoka followed Umi to an empty classroom, being careful to avoid being spotted. After she watched Umi head inside, she slowly approached the door and stood with her back against the wall near it.

_‘This is totally it, right? It has to be,’_ she thought to herself as she strained her ears to hear whatever was happening inside.

* * *

“Senpai!” a girl happily greeted Umi with a smirk.

Umi was embarrassed as she nodded. “H-Hello,” she greeted as she stared at the girl’s face.

The girl was very pretty, honestly. And she seemed nice enough.

But Umi had already decided on an answer.

“Senpai, I-“

“Stooooopppppp!!!!!!!” Honoka yelled as she quickly ran inside and brought her arms around Umi’s shoulders, pulling her close.

“H-Honoka?!” Umi stammered, startled.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you have Umi-chan! I-I…” Honoka began stuttering as her eyes darted around the room, and Umi gazed at her with a faint blush as the underclassman raised a brow.

“I-I love Umi-chan! I love her a lot! So that’s why you can’t!” Honoka confessed quickly and vaguely, almost tripping over her words as her face was completely red.

Umi was stunned as her thoughts began to get jumbled from embarrassment.

The underclassman stared blankly at the pair for a long moment before suddenly laughing. “Pfft…you really…wow…” she mumbled as she tried to contain her laughter.

“E-Ehh…?” Honoka was confused as the girl slowly collected herself.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just…everyone knew except for you two, you know? We were all waiting for it to happen,” she said playfully before walking toward the door.

“Congratulations, senpai! You two are very cute together,” she teased with a grin before leaving as Honoka stood there dumbfounded.

“Uh…I…” Honoka trailed off, unsure what to say, when Umi slowly reached for the side pocket on Honoka’s uniform.

“Honoka…what’s this?” she asked quietly, and Honoka peered down before reaching for the folded paper Umi was pointing at.

“Huh…? When did this…?” Honoka mumbled as she opened it in front of them, and they both read it.

_‘Make sure to follow Umi after school! This is your chance!’_

“Ehh?!?! What’s this?!” Honoka was confused as she turned the paper over, checking for any messages on the other side, when Umi pieced it together.

She slipped out of Honoka’s hold, clearing her throat as her blush returned. “That girl set us up,” she said simply.

“W-What?! Then I-“ Honoka began to say as she turned around, but cut herself off when Umi grabbed the cuff of her sleeve.

“Honoka.”

Honoka stopped and slowly turned around, her eyes widening when she noticed Umi’s face.

“…did you really mean that? About…love, I mean,” Umi asked quietly as she averted her gaze.

Honoka’s blush returned. Umi was patiently waiting for an answer with scarlet cheeks, and Honoka had a thought.

That was the cutest Umi had ever looked before.

Honoka leaned in and closed her eyes as she brought her lips to Umi’s. There was no response for a long moment, but she eventually felt Umi’s arms wrap around her neck as Umi leaned in as well.

* * *

“Umi-chan…”

“Yes?”

Honoka was embarrassed as she glanced around the school’s entrance.

A day had passed since they started dating, and now almost every student they could see was giving them knowing smiles.

“It’s a little embarrassing, huh?” Honoka asked as she gently scratched the back of her head, and Umi sighed happily.

“It is, to be honest. But…” Umi trailed off before suddenly latching onto Honoka’s arm with a smile. “I’m fine with it.”

Honoka formed a bright smile.

“Me too! Hey, Umi-chan…” Honoka whispered as she leaned in next to Umi’s ear. “Want to skip school?”

… 

“I-It was a joke! Umi-chan, noooooo!!!” Honoka yelled in a panic as she fled.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> I wanted to do a short HonoUmi thing that takes place in their third year. With A-RISE having had graduated and µ's becoming very popular, it's only natural that many people would apply to Otonokizaka to chase after µ's. I imagined how Umi would react to Honoka suddenly becoming the center of attention, and I thought it would be pretty cute, so I wrote it! I hope you liked it!
> 
> Thank you everyone for reading!


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